Sheetlines
The journal of
THE CHARLES CLOSE SOCIETY
for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps
“A picture of the land”
Aiden de la Mare
Sheetlines, 90 (April 2011), pp.29-35
Stable URL:
http://www.charlesclosesociety.org/files/Issue90page29.pdf
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Published by
THE CHARLES CLOSE SOCIETY
for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps
www.CharlesCloseSociety.org
The Charles Close Society was founded in 1980 to bring together all those with
an interest in the maps and history of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain and
its counterparts in the island of Ireland. The Society takes its name from Colonel
Sir Charles Arden-Close, OS Director General from 1911 to 1922, and initiator of
many of the maps now sought after by collectors.
The Society publishes a wide range of books and booklets on historic OS map
series and its journal, Sheetlines, is recognised internationally for its specialist
articles on Ordnance Survey-related topics.
29
A picture of the land – an aesthetic appreciation of the
depiction of relief on OS small scale maps
Aidan de la Mare
I approach this subject from the view point of both the original
meaning of the word aesthetic as ‘perception by the senses’,
and particularly the refined meaning as ‘relating to, or
possessing a sense of beauty’. So, unlike many of the
contributions to Sheetlines that deal with verifiable facts, this is
entirely a matter of opinion and therefore open to question or
disagreement. I do not attempt to make more than a passing
reference to the development of, or history of, the particular maps as this has
been dealt with elsewhere.1
The basic OS small scale map from its inception at the beginning of the
nineteenth century to the present day can be described as a technical drawing
of the land, such as might be seen directly below a balloon or aeroplane in a
diffused light that shows no shadows and so gives no indication of relief. The
use of hachures on the Old Series one-inch map was an attempt to indicate that
the land had a third dimension, but being on the same black plate as the rest of
the detail, they tended to confuse the image which remained a rather imprecise
technical drawing. The later addition of contours and spot heights, although
helping the reader to understand the relief, did nothing to improve the
aesthetics of the map.
Then, towards the end of the nineteenth century by changing the hachures
to brown they took a step towards showing the third dimension at a glance, but
it was not enough. It needed the introduction of the New Series in colour2 for
the OS to produce a picture of the land. But, for this to be effective the shades
of colours used for the hachures, contours and roads have to be right. The red
hachures give a happier effect than the darker brown of later editions and the
paler roads are less intrusive than the stronger burnt sienna ones that followed.
But, as often seems to happen, the pioneering effort turns out to be more
attractive than the successor. The Third Edition, with its hachures so dark a
brown that they seem black, and with added colours, loses the clarity of the
New Series in colour, and with it much of the image of relief. Probably unique
was the two-inch to one mile War Department Land on Salisbury Plain that ran
to several editions from 1898 to 1911 in which the relief was shown by
horizontal hachures. This is quite an effective system that amounts to very
closely spaced contours, but it is less than obvious at a glance which are the
1
2
Yolande Hodson, Popular maps, Charles Close Society, 1999, for the experimental maps
before 1914 and up to the Fifth Relief Edition. Also Dr Oliver in the series of Charles Close
Society booklets on the Fifth up to the Seventh Series, as well as various articles in
Sheetlines.
Tim Nicholson, The birth of the modern Ordnance Survey small-scale map, Charles Close
Society, 2002.
30
ridges and which the valleys.
Just into the twentieth century the OS decided to challenge Bartholomew’s
already popular half-inch series, and entered that market with their own hillshaded map. It is quite a nice map that gives a good clear impression of the
highlands but is much less satisfactory in the lowlands where the hill-shades
merely give a smudgy look to the map and the widely spaced contours do little
to help. Their next venture was to add layers as well, which is quite successful
in the lowlands, although even there the green base colour is too strong. But
where the hills rise to more than 500 feet the map becomes one of the worst
ever produced by the OS, so dense are the browns and greys of the higher
layers that the hill-shades can scarcely be distinguished and even the map detail
is almost unreadable. Fortunately this excursion did not last long as it was
separated into two editions, the hill-shaded and the layered versions, and
although neither achieved much aesthetic value; the layered version went on to
be a competent if less popular rival to the ubiquitous Bartholomew’s map.
Killarney 1913, ‘one of the most beautiful and successful pictures of the land’
The real departure from the map as a technical drawing came in 1913 with
the publication of the celebrated Killarney map and its immediate successors,
and the genesis of this has been fully discussed by Hodson.3 It is interesting to
speculate on the ‘might have been’ had this development not been interrupted
by the First World War and its aftermath. Of these maps I have in my collection
3
Popular maps, pp 21-29.
31
Killarney, as well as Dorking, Ilkley and Glasgow of 1913 and Belfast of 1918.
There seems little to choose between them in quality; all except Dorking have
significant mountain areas that most readily justify layers and hill-shading, and
the effect is enhanced by these areas being lightly populated, requiring less
map detail thus giving a clearer view of the shape of the land. Dorking however
is both heavily wooded and heavily populated, so is cluttered with all the detail
that goes with it, resulting in a rather heavier look to the map exacerbated by
the generally stronger colours used throughout. Although there are many areas
of hills shown, they are of much smaller scale than on the others, so the effect
of the relief techniques is much less noticeable and the immediate appeal of the
map lessened.
Several other specimens of relief maps were produced and two are
illustrated in Hodson.4 Aldershot North and South were also published in both
relief and plain styles, but the relief seems to have been of very uncertain
quality, showing considerable variation in different surviving examples. On my
copy of the North sheet the effect is so slight that it is almost completely
ineffective, and no improvement on the contemporary plain version with red
contours. A batch of relief maps that were derived from Killarney, were
published after the First World War, five in England and seven in Scotland.5
These are quite effective with their green base layer and with layers of light
brown for the hills augmented by hachures that give a limited hill shading effect
as though lit from the north-west. But they lack the refinement and subtlety of
the first batch, being a sort of economy version of those maps that set such very
high standard. New Forest has hachures so lightly drawn as to be ineffective on
much of the area, and London has uncomfortably dark brown layers above 500
feet, but, fortunately for the map, not much land of that height. Snowdon and
The Lake District have the same browns but they start at a much higher altitude,
and so work better. Of the Scottish maps Deeside is uncomfortably heavyhanded with the hachures, Rothesay & Firth of Clyde has a pleasant light shade
of yellow to indicate the heights, but, out of the bunch, Scott’s Country gets the
best balance of hachures and layers.
A whole batch of Tourist Maps followed from 1922 in a plain layered style
not dissimilar to the Bartholomew’s half-inch maps, quite effective, but layers
alone are not enough to indicate the subtleties of the shape of the land.
Curiously The Lake District of 1925 (my copy 1935) has very prominent grey
contours on subtle layers and gives an unusual view of the land, much better
than the same map of 1945 where the layers are in much stronger colours, and
the red/brown contours are largely lost against them.
Then comes another watershed with the arrival of the Fifth (Relief) Edition
4
5
Popular maps, plates 2 and 3.
In England: Third Edition - Snowdon District; Lake District, Popular Edition - Isle of Wight;
London; New Forest. In Scotland: Burns’ Country; Deeside; Lower Strath Spey; Oban;
Rothesay & Firth of Clyde; Scott’s Country; The Trossachs & Loch Lomond.
32
and this has been comprehensively discussed by Hodson6 and Oliver7. There
was much contemporary disagreement at the time of publication from 1931, but
the outcome was unequivocal; the attempt to sell an artistically advanced map
to the public for general use was a failure. I find this regrettable but understandable, for there is no doubt that the plain style that superseded the relief
edition is easier to read, but that stands to reason as it is, once again, a
technical drawing of the land. A look at the Physical Features Only version of
the map shows what an excellent job they made of the relief drawing, it is a
very clear and detailed view of the land; but by adding normal map details on
top of it, both suffer, the details do not stand out and the land-form gets lost
under the details. The two Aldershot District maps and the Tourist Maps
Dartmoor and Exmoor are no more than rearranged sheet lines of the
numbered maps. But a spin off of the style appeared on Popular Edition Tourist
Maps: Ilkley District in 1935 in which the rather pale understated Fifth Relief
style has been strengthened in the hill shading and contours, somewhat to the
detriment of the overall view; and Snowdon of 1938 where the hill shading has
become heavier still, but even with less prominent contours, it is still too dense.
Of the Scottish maps in the same style Invergordon to Loch Ness of 1933 is a
very good map to look at, the mountains show their shape very clearly and the
relief drawing is appropriately light in the lowland areas so that the map detail
still shows well. It is, I think, the best of the bunch, and incidentally has what is
perhaps Ellis Martin’s most attractive cover. Oban of 1936, having a very high
proportion of mountains on the map, reverts more closely to the Fifth Relief
subtle shading and this works well. The Cairngorms also of 1936 however
departs considerably from the established yellowy/brown colours of the hill
shading, introduces much more grey and much heavier contours, it also has
plain green woods and a lot of isolated tree symbols. The overall effect is
unique among relief maps and shows the mountain forms particularly clearly,
though its very unfamiliarity of style banishes thoughts of comparing it
favourably with the yardstick of Killarney. The New Forest Tourist Map of 1938
has quite a lot of the ‘feel’ and detail of The Cairngorms, with its plain green
woods and isolated tree symbols. But the much denser lowland map detail and
redder cast make it a less successful map.
The half-inch map also tried its hand at Fifth Relief style with The Cotswolds
in 1931 and Birmingham District in 1933. Quite nice maps, but the rather dense
map detail tends to overpower the relief, the place names are written so small
that they are difficult to read and many small patches of woodland on
Birmingham add further confusion. The Peak District of 1936 reverts to layers,
but not much of the map actually uses these layers, as only a relatively small
part of the large area covered is high ground. So although easier to read than
the relief maps it still suffers from too great a density of detail in the lowlands.
The Island of Skye of 1932, the only departure at this scale in Scotland, is a
6
7
Popular maps, pp 211-213.
A guide to the one-inch Fifth Edition, Charles Close Society, 2000.
33
triumph. The all-brown Fifth Relief style is especially suited to the mountainous
islands that stand up dramatically from the pale blue sea. The picture of the
land is enhanced by the small amount of place names and other map detail due
to the light population of the islands, and the ridges of the mountains show up
particularly clearly although the shading is quite lightly applied. All this suggests
that this is among the very best relief maps published by the OS.
Island of Skye 1932, ‘among the very best relief maps published by the OS’
The quarter-inch Second Series maps have such crude hill-shading that it
would have been better left off. But mention should be made of the interesting
Royal Air Force Third Edition of 1936 with its purple layers and very prominent
railways that gives an unusual and surprisingly clear view of the land, which was,
I suppose, just what it was meant to do. At the two-inch scale came Jersey of
1914 (my copies 1924, 1934 and 1958). The 1924 edition has a green base and
layers of light brown and pink above; these, with rather ill-defined hill-shades,
combine to make a gloomy map. The 1934 revised edition omits the layers and
strengthens the hill-shades to produce a better effect, but is still rather dull. The
1959 version is further curtailed and has contours only. At the same scale Isles of
Scilly of 1933 (my copies 1937 and 1959) is a spin off from the Fifth Relief. The
1937 printing works well, having quite a lot in common with Island of Skye, but
lacks the impact as the islands are so small. In the 1959 printing, however, the
relief has become so washed out that it is completely ineffective.
34
With the advent of the one-inch Seventh Series, a new batch of Tourist Maps
followed. These display several varieties of the basic layer and hill-shaded
formula of the pre-war relief maps. As I have accumulated several printings of
each map, I can, to some extent, compare the development and variations that
have occurred in the forty or so years that was their lifetime. The first two, The
Peak District, 1957 and North York Moors, 1958 have layers beginning with a
pale green base rising through pale brown to a medium brown in the highest
areas. The hill-shading is lightly applied, and makes an attractive and efficient
map, but the colouring of layers and contours darkens in later printings, but
lightens again with the late 1:50,000 derived version that introduces a pinkish
colour for the highest layers. The Lake District, 1958, Lorn and Lochaber, 1959
(later changed to Ben Nevis and Glen Coe), and Loch Lomond and the
Trossachs, 1961 are all similar with a green base layer and above that very
subtle shading of pale browns that do not form separate layers, but have rather
prominent hill-shades. The Lake District suffers darkening of colours and
contours in mid term with the C edition of 1966 only to lighten again in C5/* of
1977, and then dark again in the 1:50,000 derived B edition of 1994. The other
two remained little changed through their lifetime. All these are good maps with
effective depiction of relief in mountainous areas, but they lack star quality.
As with its pre-war edition, Cairngorms, 1964 is also a departure from the
established style. The A edition was unique in having cased white main roads,
and all editions have green tree symbols instead of green background colour for
woods. The base layer is green, which becomes a fierce green on A//, 1973.
But, as almost all land on the map is over 1000 feet it is overwhelmingly brown
with patches of mauve over 3000 feet. For a Tourist Map it covers an
extraordinarily high proportion of uninhabited and almost inaccessible land. But
it is a fascinating map to study for a southern Englishman who will never go
there; it could be described as more interesting than beautiful. Wye Valley and
Lower Severn of 1961 (the only printing) is unremarkable, being a plain layered
map. But it does raise the question whether the Seventh Series would have
benefited by being offered in this form for general use. In this, and GSGS
4620A, wherein layers were added to New Popular Edition mapping, the layers
add a lot to the normal one-inch map, without unduly confusing its readability.
Dartmoor and Exmoor, both 1967, reverse the trend of the other maps of
this series in that the layer colouring and hill-shading gets lighter as they were
reprinted, which is just as well because the blue and purple above 1000 feet
and reddish brown down to 700 feet is not a good choice aesthetically,
whatever else it achieves. The 1:50,000 derived version of Dartmoor in 1985
reverts to a much happier range of browns above 300 metres and a range of
yellows below that to a pale green base layer, which, coupled with lightly
applied hill-shades gives a much more pleasing map while still clearly showing
the shape of the land. Exmoor started similarly to Dartmoor but is less strident
in its colouring, and gradually softened even that, so that B4 of 1990 the last of
the Seventh Series is also the best printing of that map.
35
New Forest of 1966 was a curious exception in that the ground colouring
indicates, not altitude, but ‘predominant vegetation’ wood, downland, meadow
and heath. Relief is shown by hill-shades and spot heights, but not contours
until the 1:50,000 derived edition of 1985 which includes contours. The A
edition has a curious almost malachite green for the woods with prominent
black trees, but by B/*/* of 1976 the woods have faded to a pale green and the
trees much reduced in prominence, a definite improvement. The C edition
reverts to normal woods green but the tree symbols have faded even further
and are absent from many of the woods, but the yellows of meadow and
downland have grown in strength, and that is not an improvement. It is no
surprise that the OS did not repeat the ‘predominant vegetation’ experiment,
for, although the map is quite nice to look at, the wrong message is sent to the
reader who is expecting the colouring to represent altitude.
The half-inch Snowdonia began life as the layered numbered sheet 28 in
1961, but was transformed in 1966 into Snowdonia National Park with the
addition of hill shades and on revised sheet lines. It follows the sequence of
getting lighter in later printings, but fails aesthetically by having map details that
are too prominent, which allows the roads and the park boundary to distract
from the land form. It does, however, draw our attention to the regrettable
absence of a good general purpose map of the country at this scale. The
1:250,000 (quarter-inch) Fifth Series of 1960 departs from the layered style of
the previous Fourth Edition at this scale by adding hill-shades. This produces a
colourful map giving a good overview of mountainous country, but offering
little more than occasional grey smudges to lowland country. Wales and the
Marches Special Sheet of 1959 goes through the sequence of the hill-shading
getting lighter in successive printings, so that the last in 1976 is the best.
There only remain two oddities; the isolated experiment with Landranger
124 Dolgellau of 1995 in which smudged hill-shading was, apparently rather
casually, applied to the mountains. But it can only be described as a failure.
The other is the surprising appearance in 1992 of the one-inch Yorkshire Dales
Tourist Map, derived from 1:50,000 material. It made a rather better job of the
hill-shades than Dolgellau, but there seems some doubt as to where the light is
coming from; the convention being from the north-west, but on this one it
seems to be more like due north. A nice map but by no means outstanding.
This survey has been confined to the maps in my collection that I have been
able to examine alongside each other, but I don’t think I have missed any
others that are worthy of consideration. The only others that might be
contenders are the experiments discussed by Hodson,8 but these were not
published and I have not seen them except as illustrations. My conclusion is,
rather unimaginatively, that it is the famous Killarney and its immediate
successor Ilkley that can claim to be the most beautiful and successful pictures
of the land, followed closely by Invergordon to Loch Ness and Island of Skye.
But, of course, this is open to question, being only my opinion.
8
Popular maps, pp23-29.